Ecologist, planner, navigator
Dr. Jennie Moore is a navigator for our times: an urban ecologist and planner who is helping cities and businesses understand their use of energy and materials and point the way to reduced carbon emissions and lighter footprints -- aligned with the Earth's limited ecological resources.
Author of the ecoCity Footprint Tool and lead academic advisor for Ecocity Standards, she was appointed as the first Director, Institute Sustainability, at the British Columbia Institute of Technology in 2018 and will host the Ecocity World Summit in Vancouver in 2019.
Moore's achievements reflect her strong internal compass and passion for ecology. Growing up in Toronto, then North Vancouver, she attended Waldorf schools, where classwork included sowing farm crops, spinning wool and experiential learning about our dependence on natural systems.
She also learned to sail as a student, and has long experience racing boats in long-distance events in the Pacific Northwest. Being outdoors, on the ocean with wind in the sails is something she loves—as well as being part of a competitive team.
After earning a masters degree in urban planning at UBC, Moore was chosen for pioneering roles in fast-emerging fields of sustainability planning. She was the first planner in charge of Metro Vancouver's Sustainable Region Initiative and first Air Quality Planner in charge of Climate Action, and she won national awards for innovative "demand-side management" in establishing an ambitious Employee Trip Reduction Program for the regional government.
She navigated in new waters, too, when she returned to UBC's School of Community and Regional Planning to do her doctorate, adapting the ecological foot-printing method developed by her supervisor, Dr. William Rees, for use by cities and regional governments. Moore's ecoCity Footprint Tool (EFT) allows cities to map flows of energy and materials (urban metabolisms), understand their ecological footprints, and measure their consumption-based and territorial carbon emissions.
Urban planners like this. Vancouver used the tool In 2013 to establish the baseline of its ambitious Greenest City Action Plan and, again, in 2017 in updating its Lighter Footprint goal. Other municipalities in Canada, the United States and beyond have piloted the tool, with good results. Citizens and businesses are also engaged. Whole neighbourhoods in Vancouver have worked with Moore to adapt the tool for households, helping individuals transition to "lighter living"; and major businesses in the region are looking at ways of adapting the tool to boost their sustainability.
The tool has also been adopted as a key element of EcoCity Standards, critical guidance for urban planners worldwide to develop policies and systems in support of One Planet living -- and Moore serves as the lead academic advisor for this global initiative.
Moore's keen sense of direction and achievements are coupled with skills as a speaker and administrator. Though willing to tell the truth about climate change and hyper-consumption, her good humour and belief in the power of people to effect change is inspiring. As BCIT's first-ever Director, Institute Sustainability, Moore aims to take her approach worldwide, as she prepares to host the ECOCITY World Summit 2019, October 7-11, in Vancouver and establish an Ecocity Research Centre at BCIT, advancing urban sustainability and training the next generation of planners in support of it.
“She’s a very competent planner, tremendous data digger with good networks—understands systems and how cities work.”